


Origins

by queermoraghid (TheDoctorIsIcecube)



Series: Torna: The Golden Flufftry [2]
Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Major Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-06-23 11:36:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15605433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDoctorIsIcecube/pseuds/queermoraghid
Summary: Jin talks to Malos about how he ended up looking after Mikhail.





	Origins

“How’s he really holding up?” Jin asked. It was the first time he’d been alone with Malos since he brought him here to this slightly sketchy inn in Teddim. Ever since then, Mikhail had been a constant presence, much like he had been in the past. But, finally, Mik was asleep while Jin had managed to build up enough strength to stay awake longer. 

“Surprisingly well,” Malos admitted. “Kid’s got determination. I thought he’d be dead within a week, but he’s still alive, and he’s over the worst of everything now. Should be smooth sailing from here, provided he doesn’t try and rip out his own core crystal or some shit.” 

Ah, yes. The core crystal. Jin still hadn’t gotten an explanation for that. “Speaking of core crystals,” he said carefully. “Mik was human when we met. And now he’s not, and he’s clearly been through a lot of pain. Who did this to him? And- how?”

“Your guess is as good as mine with how,” Malos said, his voice nearly a growl. “But I can tell you who. It was those Indoline scum. Talking about their virtues and forgiveness and all of that shit in the daylight, and then running dangerous experiments on kids in the night before hunting them down to kill anyone who managed to make it out alive.”

“They tried to kill him?” Jin wasn’t even surprised by that fact; he was just angry. “For the Architect’s sake, he’s just a kid, he couldn’t hurt a fly…” 

“Actually, he could probably hurt a hell of a lot of flies if he figured out how to control his powers,” Malos pointed out. “He got mad at me over some petty shit a few weeks ago and half the city lost light for an hour.”

“How did he end up with you, of all people?” Though Malos hadn’t been involved directly with the burning of Porton, Mikhail had lost his home and family during that war.

“He was running,” Malos said. “He’s damn fast, by the way, it’s definitely not natural for a kid to be that fast. And he ran straight into me when trying to hide from the people hunting him. They were Indoline monks and I thought inconveniencing then was a good use of my time. I thought it’d just be a case of sending him on his way once the soldiers were gone, but he came down with a killer fever, and, well, here he is.”

“Has he told you anything about what happened to him?” Jin eyed the sleeping boy with a mixture of fondness and concern. He loved that kid, strange as he was. If Lora had been like his daughter, then Mikhail was the closest he’d ever had to a son. “I tried asking, but he wouldn’t share the details.”

“Won’t tell me either,” Malos said. “I asked a handful of times and he said he didn’t want to talk about it. He’s pretty resilient, for a kid his size. Honestly, I don’t think he remembers or understands what he went through. I guess trauma does strange things to humans.”

“Yeah…” Jin was still watching Mikhail. Every so often, his face would twitch a little in his sleep, and the lights in the room would dim for just a moment. “Poor kid. He’s had just about the roughest possible start to life. Orphaned, dragged through a warzone, and now this whole core crystal thing…”

“Guess he drew all the wrong cards in life,” Malos said. “Tough luck, I guess, but he’ll get through it. So long as there aren’t any more complications, anyway. I can’t imagine his brain or his body is a big fan of being resonated with a crystal that’s inside his body.”

“How does that even-” Jin shook his head, not wanting to even think about what sort of twisted science experiments they’d done on Mik. Whatever had been done to him, he emphatically did not deserve it. “Architect. When we met him, I didn’t think his life could get much worse.”

“He’s cheerful enough, most of the time,” Malos said. “I think he’s doing okay, emotionally. He seems cheerful enough, bar being a whiny, shitty little kid. But I think that’s more a sign that he’s okay than anything.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you've enjoyed this, please feel free to leave a comment :) feedback means a lot.


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